Buckle



0. J. COOPER.

BUGKLE.

No 334,750. Patented Jan. 26, 1886.

UNITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

CHARLES J. COOPER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334,750, dated January 26, 1886.

Application filed June 24, 1885. Serial No. 169,671. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. COOPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of tracebuckles in which .the tongue is carried by an arm hinged to a cross-bar of the frame of the buckle, and which has a hame-tug loop, between which and the arm carrying the tongue and the cross-bars of the frame the trace is held; and it consists in so shaping the hinged arm carrying the tongue, and in so placing it with reference to the cross-bars of the frame of the buckle, that it shall not be liable to distortion from the strain upon it of the hame-tug loop, and so that it shall not project upward at any part from the plane of the frame, so as to cause a bend in the trace, such bends being likely to injure the trace, the arm being so shaped and adjusted that it lies in or below the upper surface of the cross-bars of the frame.

I haveillustrated my invention by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved buckle. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a section view. Fig. 4 is a detailed view showing tongue and portion of arm with which the same is connected, also showing a section of the front cross-bar, upon which the free end of said arm rests.

Like letters refer to like parts.

A indicates a hame-tug connected with the curved loop or bail of the buckle.

B indicates a trace attached to the buckle.

The form of the buckle shown in the drawings need not be lettered further than the parts are concerned to which I shall have occasion to refer.

The main frame of the buckle is composed of the inner bars, a, b, h, and k, the front crossbar being indicated by h and the rear cross-bar by k.

m indicates thearm hinged to the rear crossbar, 70, upon which arm, at its forward end, is placed the tongue at.

The curved loop or bail, with which the hame-tug is connected, is indicated by r.

'vindicates the loop on the hame-tug,through which the forward end of the trace passes.

[ The advantages of the construction invented by me are severalin number and of consid erable importance. The tongue of the buckle being secured to an arm extending from the rear cross-bar to the front cross-bar, directly under and parallel with the trace, prevents the curved loop to which the hame-tug is attached from making any considerable bend or indentation across the trace between said forward and rear cross-bars, as said arm acts to divide the strain and causes the draft to partially come upon said tongue, while at the same time the arm, being set down into a depression of the crossbar on which it rests, as shown in Fig. 4, and also being bent or curved away from the trace, cannot receive enough strain from the loop to which the hame-tug is attached to distort it, as would be the case did the arm lie in or above'the plane of the crossbars of the buckle. Moreover, the arm is made narrow,but of considerable thickness-a shape which is adapted to stand a considerable strain from the loop. When buckles are constructed without a central arm of this description, the entire strain is centered on the trace at the bend upon the compressed fibers and grain of the leather continually, so that in a comparatively short time the leather becomes hard and brittle, easily breaking at such bend, and requiring frequent repairs.

Another advantage to be found in having the tongue of the buckle connected to a hinged arm, said arm being secured to the rear crossbar, is, that when there is no draft upon the traces,and the hame-tug attached to the curved loop pushes backward and upward from the under side of the forward cross-bar, the effect is to raise the hinged tongue and cause it to adhere closely to the under side of the trace, thus making it impossiblefor the trace to become unbuckled in case the loop 1; should be torn from the hame-tug.

Where a rigid tongue is secured directly to the forward crossbar of the buckle, any backward pressure upon the hame-tug is apt to tend to disconnect the trace from said tongue, said result being frequent when theloop is torn from the hame-tug, as is often the case where harness has been used for any considerable length of time. Any construction which would throw the pivoted arm below the plane of the crossbars, whether this was effected by providing the supporting cross-bar with a depression, as hereinabove shown and described, or by recessing the arm itself, so as to drop down over the cross-bar, or other equivalent arrangement of parts, would be a mere equivalent of my construction and is within my invention.

It is not necessary for me to specify the mahaving its opposite end carrying the tongue of the buckle resting in adepression of the front cross-bar, whereby the body of the said hinged arm is brought below the plane of the upper surfaces of the cross'bars, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, in a buckle, of a forward and rear cross-bar, and a hinged arm secured to said rear cross-bar at one of its ends, and carrying the tongue of the buckle on its other end, said arm being curved downwardly from the plane of the said cross-bars, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

CHARLES J'. COOPER.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK O. GOODWIN, E. L. HUBER. 

